

Ex. Doc. No. 41. 



59 



was llie principal operator in these mines, and is said to Lave 

 amassed an immense fortune. On his first arrival inthe country he 



I 



was suspected to be an agent of 



the United States, and thrown 



into pri'^on in Sonora^ where he was kept in irons for eleven years. 

 He is said to have stated that the g^ld found in the ore of these 

 mines paid all the expenses of mining, and the transportation of the 

 ore to the city of Mexico, where it was reduced. 



We were disappointed in not meeting the Apaches yesterday and 

 to-day. This afternoon three men came in dressed very much like 

 th^ Mexicans, mounted on horses. They held a talk, but I do' 

 not know the purport. This afternoon I found the famous mczcal, 

 (an agave,) about three feet in diameter, broad leaves, armed with 

 teeth like a shark; the leaves arranged in concentric circles, and 

 terminating in the middle of Ihe plant in a perfect cone. Of this 

 the Apaches make molasses, and cook it with horse meat. 



We also found to-day the dasjlirion'graminifolium, a plant with 

 a long, narro\y leaf, with sharp teeth on the margin, with a stalk 

 eighteen feet high. According to Doctor Torrey, it has lately been 

 ^'described by Zuccarini,'^ who says ^^four species of this nenus are 

 now known, all of them Mexican or Texan.'*' 



& 



u- 



The elevation of (his camp ^vas 6,167 feet. 



October 19. — I tried last night to get observations for latitude, 

 &C.J but the early part was cloudy, and we fell asleep and did not 

 Avake till broad daylight. In the afternoon there was a thunder- 

 storm to the west, which swept around towards the north, where it 

 thundered and lightened till nearly 9 o'clock. The country passed 

 over in the first part of to-day war, beautiful in the 



succ 



ession of high, rolling hills, with mountains in 



extreme; a 



rj, -1 . , — ' " ' — ^^^^ distance., 



llie soil rich, and waving with grama. The latter part was more 



barren, and covered with artemisias. 



Thie spring of San Lucia, 13^ miles from the copper mines, very 

 large and impregnated with sulphur, is in a beautiful vaHey, sur- 

 rounded, at the distance of ten or fifteen miles, with high moun- 

 tains. This was the place appointed for meeting the Apaches, at 

 11, a. m.; but arriving at 12, and not finding them as we expected, 

 and the grass all eaten up, we moved on to ^Night creek, making 30 

 miles. We halted at night on unknown ground, by the side of a creek, 

 so miry that the mules, some of which had not drunk since morn- 

 ing, refused to approach it. It was dark; many of the men mistook 

 the trail and got on the w^rong side of the treacherous creek. The 

 mules begun to bray for water, and the men to call out for their 

 messmates; all v/ere in confusion. My thoughts of last night came 

 vividly to my mind, as I heard the voice of my chronometer man 

 on the o_ther side, asking to be shown the way across. I sent him 

 ^'^j| to retrace his steps two or three miles. 



ihe assembly call was sounded, which seemed to settle all things; 



and, as far ^s the clouds would allow me, I obtained observations. 



Ahis is only the second tune since leaving the 100th degree of 



ongitude that I have been interrupted by clouds in my observa- 



lons. Nothing has been heretofore more rare than to see the heavens 



Overcast. 



